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SUMMARY / COMMENTARY:

*Any Given Sunday* (R) -- should have been NC-17?

Nudity -- in every sense of the word. Extremely intimate views of female parts that rarely see light. And full frontal male nudity. Plus a splattering of other forms of nudity. And language that competes with *South Park* in both severity and frequency: more than 40 per hour in this 2 hour and 42 minute movie. What an influence!

In this Oliver Stone movie of the world of pro football, the ignominy was not excused by the quality actors, eloquent script, and expert choreography. The portrayal of the "lifestyle" of pro football players did not excuse the trash. No matter how comprehensive this movie may seem to have been, it was fiction. Even if this were a true story, portrayal of aberrant behaviors onscreen does not mean that such is acceptable. But does that fact stand out boldly as the average teen tries to capture the theme buried in a sea of freedom from responsible behavior? Or does s/he more readily and more intimately incorporate into his/her coping skills the more easily identifiable, however subtle, and even the sometimes invisible behavior aberrations; the ones which give the "I wish I had said/done that" swirls of emotional calculations and mental preparations for their next social encounter or confrontation with authority in their yet inexperienced lives?

Oliver Stone's techniques of emblazoning the theme into the mind of the viewer were masterful, cutting away to heroic pictures of notables such as Unitas and Lombardi each time one of these sports masters of the past was mentioned, all the while saturating sight and sound with every manner of illicit sex, disgusting language and other inappropriate behaviors. In this combination, it is inevitable that the impressionable viewer will associate an enviable personality or a lifestyle free from authority and consequences with filthy language, sexual promiscuity and questionable behaviors. This is how the entertainment industry with its thousands upon thousands of vehicles implants aberrant behavioral templates, whether intentional or not, whether desired or not, whether sinful or not, and all presented with acceptable and even desirable and satisfying and gratifying rationale. I suspect that I. Pavlov's stimulus/response behavioral programming might apply here. When a "bell" of delicious gratification at any cost is rang each time the vulnerable adolescent (and even adult) viewer is fed a superficially attractive aberrant behavior or coping skill template, sooner or latter when a "bell" of parallel dimensions is heard in the young viewer's world of often tornadic turbulence s/he may begin to "salivate" on his/her way into mimicking the behavior implanted by the cinematic example, thus emboldening the impressionable viewer to cast off inhibitions and control. Jesus knew this when He warned us of feeding our minds with impure things [Ps. 101:3].

And no one can throw up an argument that kids should not be watching this R-rated movie since, as with most R-rated movies I've seen (which is why I still do R-rated movies), there were many youngsters from 7 or 8 and up in the audience when I saw this movie, and each lost yet another slice of his AND her childhood for the sake of entertainment. And many of the kids appeared to be with their parents or grandparents [Luke 17:2].

So many of our visitors seem to be relying only on this Summary/Commentary for a full assessment of this movie. This is not possible. For the best representation of the CAP Entertainment Media Analysis Model applied to this movie, visit the Findings/Scoring section below.

(2) The use of the three/four letter word vocabulary without God's name in vain is incorporated into the Impudence/Hate Investigation Area. The use of God's name with or without the four letter expletive is incorporated into the Offense to God Investigation Area. There is no duplication.

(3) Only portrayal of successful murder or suicide are incorporated into Murder/Suicide. Portrayal of attempts to commit murder or suicide and deaths by police action or war are incorporated into Wanton Violence/Crime.

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